Whitehaven rich get even richer

It’s looking like lucrative history is going to repeat itself for the directors of
Whitehaven Coal
. Yesterday the company admitted it was reaching the end of its formal process during which companies interested in taking over Whitehaven – thought to include the likes of Yanzhou Coal and Aditya Birla – could conduct due diligence and submit takeover proposals.

Whitehaven is discussing the proposals and should any come to fruition, the directors are going to cash in for the second time in five years.

Chief executive
Tony Haggarty
and executive director
Andy Plummer
made their initial fortunes when Excel Coal, of which they were directors, was sold to Peabody Energy in a $2 billion deal.

Haggarty and Plummer then turned around and put in $15 million each into the then-fledgling Whitehaven. Now they each have stakes worth about $240 million in the company, as the shares have kept rising thanks to constant takeover speculation.